Wildfire Mitigation Strategies for Alberta
Following a record breaking 2023, the 2024 wildfire season in Alberta got off to an early start. In the wake of the wildfires in Jasper that claimed 30% of the town’s structures, many Albertans are nervous about what future wildfire seasons might mean for their communities.
Why more fires?
Wildfires are a natural part of a forest's life cycle but over the last century, fire activity has been increasing throughout Canada. Several factors have contributed to this increase but climate change driven hot, dry conditions and an increase in lightning storms are primary factors.
Additionally, much of Alberta’s forests have been devastated by the mountain pine beetle, leaving behind highly flammable dead trees.
A a result, wildfires are more numerous and severe now than what was historically recorded.
What’s being done
Prior to the start of the 2024 wildfire season, the Alberta Government increased the wildfire budget by $55 million. Some of the budget was used to hire 100 new seasonal firefighters or five additional 20 person crews picked from a record number of applicants. The use of drones, helicopters and AI powered thermal imaging have been implemented to assist fire crews’ response times.
Unfortunately, these measures came after the provincial government cuts to wildfire funding in 2019. Among the programs cut was the Wildland Firefighter Rappel Program, a 40 year old program that deployed firefighters into otherwise inaccessible areas by helicopter. The program allowed for faster wildfire responses which increased the chances of containing the fire.
The various technologies currently being utilized are intended to improve response time, but James Gault, Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) VP for the northeast region says that one very crucial resource was lost in the cuts: experience.
Gault says Alberta is failing to retain firefighters and has lost experienced firefighters to BC, resulting in teams being led by firefighters with only one or two years of experience.
Fire mitigation in areas like Jasper is handled by Parks Canada and FireSmart. Parks Canada utilizes a variety of wildfire risk reduction strategies to lessen the severity of wildfires. These strategies include the removal of forest fuels, management of the pine beetle and controlled burns.
Outside of the parks, municipalities are more or less on their own, but have the option to utilize FireSmart resources. A 2021 study showed that only one third of municipalities had completed one or more FireSmart Community Plan documents. At the time, only 51% of Municipal Development plans addressed wildfire.
It is likely these numbers have changed over the last 3 years, but without additional support from the provincial and federal governments, municipalities that do not utilize FireSmart resources remain vulnerable to the increasing risk of wildfire.
In the wake of the Jasper wildfire, both the federal and provincial governments have been criticized for their lack of wildfire strategies. Alberta Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen has expressed that more aggressive mitigation is necessary. What is clear is that definitive action needs to be taken to protect Alberta’s municipalities from the increasing severity of seasonal wildfires.
Room for improvement
A report funded by the Alberta Land Institute (ALI) and published in 2021 outlines potential mitigation strategies. In the report “Forest Fire Induced Risks and Community Resilience findings” principal investigator, Quazi Hassan, who is a professor in the Schulich School of Engineering, Department of Geomatics Engineering, and his team conducted a survey of stakeholders on several proposed wildfire mitigation measures.
The stakeholders were individuals involved in natural disaster management activities and included individuals from Fire and Law Enforcement, Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Red Cross and many others.
The suggested measures received varying degrees of support from the participants. These measures included:
- A 30 meter buffer zone
- A 70 meter buffer zone
- Construction of a ring road
- Strategic placement of social infrastructure
Buffer zones
Both the 30 and 70 meter buffer zone strategies suggest the creation of areas with little to no vegetation that would act as buffer zones between forests and communities to limit the spread of wildfire. The 70 meter buffer zone option had a higher approval rate since some survey respondents felt 30 meters would be inadequate.
Ring road
Similar to the buffer zones, the research team suggested that a 70 meter wide ring road communities would act as a vegetation free buffer zone and aid in evacuation measures and increase accessibility for emergency vehicles.
Infrastructure placement
Placing social infrastructure on the outskirts of communities is another way to create a buffer between communities and forested areas. Parking lots would act as an additional buffer between the infrastructure and forested area. Social infrastructure includes religious establishments, community centers and commercial entities. This solution received high approval ratings but many were concerned that the loss of social infrastructure would be a social and financial loss for the community.
In addition to the measures proposed by the research team, survey participants recommended some other mitigation measures including:
- Standardizing use of fire-resistant materials
- Utilizing vegetation free buffer zones as recreational spaces
- Creating multiple exit routes for evac
- Public education and outreach for FireSmart practices
- Forest management
- Increased risk communication
To read more about the study and results, the full report is available here.
Risk communication
Risk communication plays a large role in the adaptation of fire mitigation strategies. A 2022 ALI funded study by Sandeep Agrawal and team examined different types of risk communication and factors that determine efficacy.
The efficacy of the four types of risk communication – strategic action, public engagement, local planning and media marketing – depend on several social factors.
How the risk is perceived, the source of information, framing of the communication, public sense of responsibility and place based attachment all impact the efficacy of risk communication.
The study suggests several solutions for tackling barriers:
- Drawing on recent public memory of natural disasters to increase risk perception
- Empower individual action through positive framing
- A common knowledge-sharing platform to improve management across municipalities
- The creation of an institution to encourage stakeholder cooperation
- Risk education in schools
To read more about the study and results, the full report is available here.
Other research
Restoring grassland
An interesting 2019 study by former University of Alberta PhD student, Chris Stockdale, found that restoring grasslands could reduce the severity of wildfires. Over the last 100 years, 50 per cent of the grasslands in the Bob Creek Wildland have been taken over by encroaching coniferous forest.
Fire resistant tree types
Other studies have found that different types of trees are more resistant to fire. According to ecologists Edmonton, home to Canada’s largest urban park, is reportedly less vulnerable to wildfire due to a large amount of deciduous trees.
A 2023 study also found that deciduous trees could help mitigate temperature in periods of intense heat.
Fossil fuel industry accountability
A 2023 study in Environmental Research Letters investigated the link between major fossil fuel producers and wildfires in Western Canada and the United States. Using modeling data, the study reported that emissions from major fossil fuel producers were responsible for 37 per cent of the total burned forest area in Western Canada and the United States between 1986-2021.
Reducing emissions from these organizations would play a large role in reducing global carbon emissions and mitigating the effects of climate change that are contributing to wildfire risk.
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The continued development of effective wildfire mitigation strategies relies largely on understanding the contributing factors.
Interested in learning more about wildfire causes in Alberta? Join the Alberta Land Institute October 1st at 12:00pm for the first webinar of our webinar series where guest speakers Professor Jen Beverly and Dave Schroeder from the Provincial FireSmart program will discuss their 2024 study “Alberta’s 2023 wildfires: context, factors and futures.”
Stay tuned for registration information.